Harbaugh upbeat in his return from heart procedure

SANTA CLARA– Coach Jim Harbaugh appeared healthy and in positive spirits Friday, a day after the 49ers coach underwent a minor procedure for an irregular heartbeat.

“I’m glad to be back,” Harbaugh said after coaching Friday morning’s walk-through practice. “I’m fine-fine, and ready to go to work.”

Aside from altering his diet and cutting down on caffeine, Harbaugh said doctors placed “no limits” on him and he plans to work the sideline at Monday night’s game between the host 49ers (6-2-1) and Chicago Bears (7-2).

Harbaugh snuffed out the notion he might take a calmer approach to coaching and he didn’t sound intrigued by the concept of meditation as a stress outlet. Simply put, Harbaugh isn’t about to tweak his passion for football.

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“He’s just an intense person,” fullback Bruce Miller said. “He’s not slowing down. He was just as fired up and as intense this morning (at practice).”
Harbaugh met with team doctors Wednesday night when his heart “just felt like it was beating faster than normal.” That prompted Thursday’s outpatient procedure at Stanford Hospital, and Harbaugh returned to the 49ers facility to observe the final hour of Thursday’s practice.

“Being our coach, he couldn’t leave us all day and he had to come back and show his face at practice,” cornerback Carlos Rogers said with a laugh.

Added Miller: “We knew it was probably killing him not to be at practice and that he’d make an appearance.”

This wasn’t Harbaugh’s first encounter with what an irregular heartbeat, or specifically an atrial flutter. “It’s something I’ve had for a while, probably close to all my life,” said Harbaugh, noting he required treatment 13 years ago for a more severe heart irregularity while in training camp as the San Diego Chargers’ quarterback.

Harbaugh scoffed at the notion he might be headed for career burnout: “I don’t feel that will happen.”

Harbaugh didn’t return to work seeking sympathy.

“He’s never shown a weakness and he definitely downplayed it,” Miller said.

Several players, and Harbaugh himself, joked that he was susceptible to getting fined for missing Thursday’s team meetings.

Harbaugh’s health scare cast a shadow on another injury watch: quarterback Alex Smith’s recovery from a Sunday concussion. Smith practiced in a non-contact capacity on Wednesday and Thursday after receiving clearance from an independent neurologist.

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Smith is progressing well and doctors will monitor him further this week before potentially clearing him to play Monday night, Harbaugh noted.

I have been treated for atrial “flutter” for well over 10 years at UC Med Center, one of the best treatment centers in the country, and no matter how much the coach downplays the irregulatiry, it ain’t a minor afflication. In fact, it’s commonplace to a stroke and a heart attack, either of which might follow. He may well have a pacemaker implanted in his chest, a device which corrects atrial fib. Or something more high-tech, but whatever treatment he undergoes for this potentially dangerous affliction, it is not, indeed, a minor matter.

Ray Finkle

As a medic, I know first hand this is not a minor procedure. Scary stuff.